Sensory Aging, Late-Life Wellbeing, and ADRD Research Infrastructure to Catalyze Practice and Policy
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ABSTRACT The goal of this 5-year research infrastructure development grant (R61/R33) is to substantially strengthen a small but successful collaborative, international network – the SENSE Network – to accelerate and translate innovative research in sensory aging, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and late-life wellbeing. MPIs of this proposal [Deal, Ehrlich] launched the SENSE Network in September 2020. Despite the Network’s successes, its growth and objectives have been limited by critical fiscal and organizational barriers. This proposal aims to address these barriers by growing the Network and undertaking key activities needed to develop and accelerate the pace of interdisciplinary sensory aging research, a field at the nexus of sensory health and gerontology. Objectives of the Network include: i) strengthening and expanding the SENSE Network’s coordination of resources, data, and expertise through an expanded Steering Committee and creation of Cores (Data Collection, Harmonization, and Integration Core; Research Development and Mentorship Core; and Dissemination and Translation Core); ii) creating novel integrated and harmonized data resources that include measures of sensory health and ADRD; iii) generating actionable scientific knowledge through pilot project awards; iv) supporting and guiding research of early-stage investigators (including with the lived experience); and v) disseminating and translating new scientific knowledge to inform clinical care, intervention design, and sensory health and ADRD-related policy. These objectives are directly aligned with R61/R33 key areas of interest of the NIA Divisions of Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) and Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology (DGCG), including data infrastructure for longitudinal research; harmonization and data linkages across multiple data sets; demographic, social, economic, institutional, and geographic factors at the population level that influence health; and functional independence. The SENSE Network leadership team is a diverse group of investigators with an extensive track record of collaboration and experience creating research infrastructure, ensuring that the SENSE Network has the capacity to grow sensory aging research beyond what can be accomplished by individual experts and research groups. By accelerating and potentiating the impact of siloed researchers, data sets, and projects, the SENSE Network is poised to take a leading role in the field of sensory aging and ADRD research, advancing the science through in-depth interdisciplinary partnerships and collaborations to positively impact the health of older adults in the U.S. and globally.
